COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, May 13, 2024

QUESTION NO.41

QUESTION: Councillor F. Timmons

To ask the Chief Executive to issue a report into glass bottle recycling in SDCC, report to include how bottle banks are emptied as it has been reported that these may be mixed and going into same truck collection ?

REPLY:

Glassco Recycling collect colour segregated glass from the bring banks in South Dublin under a Service Contract which is managed by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council on behalf of the four Dublin Local Authorities. Under the terms of the Contract the service provider maintains colour segregation of the material throughout all stages of the operation including collection, transport, storage, and processing.

This colour segregation is maintained using specific purpose collection vehicles as well as banks which are segregated by colour. While the service vehicles may appear to have only one large truck body, this is in fact a top loaded compartmentalised collection vehicle with 3 distinct compartments separated by internal doors. This allows the glass to be deposited in the truck by crane keeping the colours separated, with the operator positioning the container above the appropriate compartment before emptying commences. The use of this specific equipment will ensure that all collections of colour segregated material is maintained throughout collection and processing and will minimise any potential colour cross-contamination. Once delivered to Glassco Recycling Ltd. processing plant in Naas, all glass collected is stored in colour specific bays and is processed through the plant as either flint (clear), green or amber (brown) input material.  The processing plant is also capable of separating material by colour and this is used to remove the possibility of any cross contamination by colour through the processing phase. 

Glassco Recycling Ltd’s primary outlet for recycled glass is to the glass remelt sector where the glass cullet is melted down to be manufactured into new glass packaging. Approximately 87% of all glass that is delivered to Glassco Recycling Naas, goes to remelt. The balance goes to open-loop uses, such as a shot-blast media, as water filtration or as an equestrian surface with an overall recycling rate of material collected at approximately 97%.